With adorable illustrations by Melissa Sweet, these five sturdy lacing cards are a classic for early school age kids. Holding the slender lace and putting it through the holes punched in the cards may seem a simple task, but for young children it is an excellent way to develop sequencing skills and the fine motor dexterity in small fingers and hand. A playful way to build the small muscles of fingers and hands--the same ones needed for pencil and paper tasks. 5 & up.

Age: Preschool, Early School Years.
Award Year: 2014.
Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

With 64 pieces and the promise of 220 tricks, this is a great place to start with a child interested in learning some magic tricks. The set inclues a top hat (no bunny), magic cards, cloth handkerchief, magic lunch box, a fake thumb, a magic wand, special tubes, bottles, cups, disappearing card box, etc. There is also an instruction booklet that walks you through the tricks.While this may seem like pure entertainment, learning to do the tricks is really all about reading, following directions and practicing. It requires a lot of effort with a fun pay-off and may lead to a fun hobby.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years.
Award Year: 2014.
Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Kids can use this innovative color projector in a number of different ways. They can draw designs on a see-through panel and project their original images on the wall with the three colored lights that pivot and allow kids to change the colors and brightness. Kids can place objects or themselves between the light and the wall to make shadow puppet shows or use the shapes provided in the kit. The projector has telescope arms so you can widen the projections. This is one of those fun art kits with a scientific edge, inviting kids to discover in a hands-on way how shadows, lights, and colors can create all kinds of images, large and small. It is also fun for storytelling and artistic expression. Kit includes special FX Gel Markers that can be stored in the base. Testers preferred this projector to Crayola's new ceiling model. Requires 3 AA batteries. 6 & up

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years.
Award Year: 2014.
Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

This is the deluxe version of the Crayola Virtual Fashion Show kit, one of the most innovative activity kits to come down the pike in a long time. Kids can create their own fabulous fashions in the 20 page Sketch Book by coloring the front and back of the images in the booklet. Next they take photos of their designs with their device, meaning smart phone or i-pad. Using the My Virtual app to customize the models looks and accessories, they create models ready for the runway. Once the designing is done, they can watch their original fashions come to life as 3-D models walk up and down the runway, showing front and back of their fashion. Their creations can be saved on the device to view again and again. Instead of giving over your device, most of the designing is done on paper and then viewed on the device. Now, this is technology they gotta love if they are into fashion! They say 6 & up. We’d say slightly older girls will put more into using this as more than a coloring book. The more design elements that older girls can add, the more impressive this will be. This deluxe kit comes with more tools than the Crayola My Virtual Fashion Show. It includes Design portfolio case, a 20-page design book, 36 colored pencils, pencil sharpener, 20 Super Tips markers, 4 stencils and My Virtual Fashion Show App. We discovered that other markers work just fine and you can print new templates directly from the app (no charge) so you always have more options and don't have to buy new notebooks in order to continue to create. Our ten year old tester said this was the most exciting new electronic art toy of the year. We have to agree.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years.
Award Year: 2014.
Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Mustaches are in style this season. This jewelry kit has fifteen ways to make mustache rings, necklaces, bracelets, and other novelty pieces. Our testers loved the kit, especially the extra stick-on mustaches to add to photos. 6 & up.

Age: Early School Years.
Award Year: 2014.
Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Look Ma! No thread, no bobbin, no worry about little fingers and needles. The Sew Cool Sewing Studio is designed for beginners. It is a threadless sewing machine with a needle guard that allows kids to simply follow the dotted line on their projects to magically sew the pieces together. It comes with 9 projects, plenty of material and clear instructions. Projects can be stuffed to make dolls, small handbags, or their own creations. There are additional patterns for projects that can be downloaded. You might call this a getting ready to sew machine for the next generation of quilters and designers. A hit with 6 & up.

Age: Early School Years.
Award Year: 2014.
Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Car designers of the future are going to get their start with this virtual design kit. The kit comes with a 20 page car design book, 36 colored pencils, 20 super tip markers, 4 stencils and a pencil sharpener. After they color one of the 20 pages of racing vehicles they take a photo with a smart phone or tablet and using the app they can further customize their car and drive it on a stunt track on their phone or tablet. Although the payoff is in watching their designs come to life on the screen, the actual designing is done without the need to use the tablet. It is done by hand and puts some of those old eye-hand skills to use along with artistic expression. They say 6 & up, but our 7-year old tester found that making some of the on-screen tricks pretty challenging. Also, putting names on the vehicles is tricky since the word prints correctly on one side of the vehicle but backwards on the other side. We think this kit will be better for slightly older kids. We discovered that other markers work just fine and you can print new templates directly from the app (no charge) so you always have more options and don't have to buy new notebooks in order to continue to create.

Age: Early School Years.
Award Year: 2014.
Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

Wow! Young fashion designers can create fabulous fashions in their 20-page Fashion Sketch Book by coloring the front and back images of clothes in the book. The kit comes with 12 colored pencils. Next, they take a photo of their designs with their "device" (meaning smart phones or i-pad) and use the My Virtual Fashion Show app to customize the model’s look and accessories. Got it all set? Now kids can watch their original fashions on the runway as the 3-D model walks and spins to show front and back of their high style creations. Their creations can be saved on the device to view again and again. Instead of giving over your device, most of the designing is done on paper and then viewed on the device. Now, this is technology they gotta love, if they are into fashion! We discovered that other markers work just fine and you can print new templates directly from the app (no charge) so you always have more options and don't have to buy new notebooks in order to continue to create. There is a more elaborate version of this toy with more markers, but this less expensive version has a nice carry case for the book to fit into. They say 6 & up. We'd say slightly older girls will be using this as more than just a coloring book. Older girls will be able to add more design elements for impressive results. Our ten year old tester said this was the most exciting new electronic art toy of the year. We have to agree.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years, Tweens.
Award Year: 2014.
Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

A large light-up drawing board that comes with six gel markers that glow when the light is turned on. Kids can draw, doodle and even write letters on the LED screen. It has seven different effects that add interest and requires 3 AA batteries. There is a panel kickstand for standing the screen into a display. Since the board is big, it will make sense for playing school, signs for play restaurants, etc. It may also be a good way to motivate kids who need to work on shaping letters, and much more fun for practice runs with the weekly spelling list or math problems.

Age: Early School Years.
Award Year: 2014.
Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.

A classic spool to knit long cords that can be stitched together to make doll clothes or bracelets or whatever young designers fancy. The wooden spool is painted like a white and red spotted mushroom and has good-sized loops to wrap the yarn around. It comes with a generous amount of yarn for initial designs, though, kids who get into this craft, will soon be asking you for more wool! Our package had lavender yarn, but the colors may vary. Knitter’s scrap wool is ideal for multicolored projects. 5 & up.

Age: Early School Years, Later School Years.
Award Year: 2014.
Click here to purchase the product on Amazon.com.